THE CAVE OF HUNGA. 49 
The Mediterranean has likewise its marine grottoes of world- 
wide celebrity, its azure cave of Capri,* which I have previously 
described, and its Antro di Nettuno, in the island of Sardinia, 
about twelve miles from the small seaport of Alghero. Unfortu- 
nately this superb grotto is very difficult of access, for any wind 
between the north-west and the south prevents an entry, so that 
the Algherese assert that 300 out of the 365 days it is impossible 
to enter it. The first vaulted cavern, forming an antechamber 
about thirty feet high, has no peculiar beauty, but on crossing a 
second cavern, in which are about twenty feet of beautifully clear 
water, and then turning to the left, one finds oneself in an 
intricate navigation among stalactites with surrounding walls 
and passages of stalagmites of considerable height. Havirg 
passed them and proceeding westerly, one reaches another 
cavern with a natural column in its centre, the shaft and capital 
of which, supporting the immense and beautifully fretted roof, 
reminds one of those in the chapter-house of the cathedral at 
Wells, and the staircase of the hall at Christ Church, Oxford. 
It stands, the growing monument of centuries, in all its massive 
_and elegant simplicity with comparatively speaking few other 
stalagmites to destroy the effects of its noble solitude. In 
parts of the grotto are corridors and galleries, some 300 and 
400 feet long, reminding one of the Moorish architecture of the 
Alhambra. One of thein terminates abruptly in a deep cavern 
into which it is impossible to descend; but among many other 
interesting objects is a small chamber the access to which is 
through a very narrow aperture. After climbing and scram- 
bling through it, one finds oneself in a room the ceiling of 
which is entirely covered with delicate stalactites, and the sides 
with fretted open work, so fantastical that one might almost 
imagine that it was a boudoir of the Oceanides, where they 
amused themselves with making lime lace. Some of the 
columns in different parts of the grotto are from seventy tc 
eighty feet in circumference, and the masses of drapery droop- 
ing in exquisite elegance are of equally grand proportions. 
If a rare chance was required to discover the narrow opening 
in the cliffs of Capri, behind which one of the loveliest spec- 
tacles of nature lies concealed, we well may wonder how the 
famous cave of Hunga in the Tonga Archipelago ever became 
* Chap. i. p. 18. 
E 
